On Thu, 24 Jul 2003 16:45:01 -0400, "Tim McTeague"
wrote:

I am well aware it does not rise to the level of slander but when someone
says a cyclist is "on drugs" I think the message is clear. Drug testing is
so strict these days that Vaughters could not even take anything to control
the massive swelling in his face when he was stung by a bee in a previous
tour. I doubt that whatever Tyler is taking is not much up to the task of
taking away broken collar bone pain. I'm just getting tired of the signal
to noise ratio of these newsgroups. I'm on vacation this week and spending
too much time on-line so its back to playing with my two new Siberian Husky
puppies and riding my bike. As I climbed a very steep local hill I kept
wondering just how touch it must be to stay at it for hours, even without a
broken bone. The pros are just amazing.


Hi Tim

I was both unfortunate and stupid enough to break both my collar bones
about 18 months ago in two separate incidents. (Unfortunate, not my
fault. Stupid, entirely my fault.)

For quite a few days after each break I could hardly sleep or crawl
into my bed let alone ride a bike. Even mounting a bicycle was
extremely painful. However, once I was on the bike it all was less
painful. As a "bloke who rides a bike" I was, of course, allowed to
take whatever pain-killing drugs I liked, none of which really worked
too well.

The thought of pulling on the bars to help my climbing, such as it is
in my part of the UK, makes me wince even now. And, don't forget,
Tyler had hills a little more steep than the occasional railway
crossing or slight incline I find in the Southern part of England.

However, I do recall one TdeF cyclist either last year or the before
being denied anti-histamines or maybe a cortisone drug of of some
sort. He'd been stung by a wasp or a bee and his damaged eye closed
up. AFAIK, the active ingredient of the drug was illegal according to
the ICU rules.

Ignoring all of the above: Tyler should receive some sort of prize for
the most combatitive or brave rider.

Regards
James

PS I also smashed a shoulder around the same time as I bust both colar
bones.

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